Orderliness

May 11, 2018

Little Gemma is asleep at the foot of our bed, the older girls are giggling in their room while Linda talks with Abi, and the boys and Izzi are getting ready for their weekend Monk fix. It’s been awhile since they’ve all (minus Alex, away at college) have been here the entire evening. As they get older, sports, school activities, and friends claim more of their time, which is as it should be. 

When I was their age, overnights at my grandparents were an infrequent treat, but every Friday night we were at my mother’s folks for dinner. We kids played outside, exploring the twenty or so acres of fields and woods behind their house, staying until the Friday night fights were over. Saturday evenings were at my dad’s folks. I can still see my grandfather, who played semi-pro ball as a young man, sitting on the porch listening to baseball on the radio while leaning through the living room door to watch Lawrence Welk on TV.  

That weekly routine still lives in me as part of the foundation that defines my life. The regularity of those weekends, like the regularity of Sunday worship, is still a reminder that  God is faithful and orderly; that life need not be as chaotic as it sometimes appears. If we can do the same for our grandchildren, we will have accomplished much in this world, and I will be very thankful.